Another Road Win, Finally… Nothing like facing the Suns to help you get back in the win column.

It wasn’t the up-and-down high scoring game like last time these two teams met, but there was plenty of back-and-forth action.

Jordan Clarkson was the steadying force offensively, scoring 25 points off the bench to lead the team. Meanwhile, it was role players like Andrew Bogut and Corey Brewer that helped set the tone on the defensive end. (Something about playing in Phoenix that brings out the best in Brewer.)

The Lakers were able to pull-out to a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter behind the strong bench play and better execution.

“We stopped turning the ball over,” Luke said. The team had only 2 turnovers in the fourth.

The Lakers sank 14 threes on their way to the 100-93 road win, finally scratching out a W before returning home.

“Those games we lost, we were right there in the game,” Clarkson said. “Just little mistakes here and there. That’s all we have to fix. Do that and the same thing we did tonight and we’ll be fine.”

Ball -- -- Quiet night for Lonzo, unlike last time he was in town. We saw a lot of possessions where others were bringing up the ball and Lonzo set up off ball. Usually the ball would work back to him weakside to then make quick decisions on two-man action. I think Luke was doing this to get a little more ball movement before a shot went up. Glad to see them starting to explore that a little more. A lot of ball handling by others throughout the game. Luke didn’t bring Lonzo back into close, opting to keep JC and Brewer out there who were both getting the job done tonight. Luke said he was close to bringing him back, but those two kept making plays. “JC was hot tonight, so you’ve got to ride the hot hand,” he said. A lot of turnovers tonight from Lonzo. Never seen Lonzo complain as much about the officiating as tonight. You know there was probably questionable calls when he’s irked and talking to the refs. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-10 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a quick-fire baseline face-up jumper. He missed a pull-up midrange jumper, then knocked a rebound away from a teammate. He deflected a pass on a switch to get a miss. He cut baseline and KCP found him for a layup. He couldn’t connect with Lopez leaking out, turnover. He missed a wing three off the high screen. He found JC for the three. He was called for a carry on the hesitation dribble. He attacked and missed the floater. He stripped Booker’s drive away from him. Called for a travel on a pass off, didn’t seem legit. He missed a deep three straight away. He kicked to KCP for the three. Second Half: He kicked to Lopez for the corner three. His man tried to pressure him and Lonzo, just bullied him all the way down court and into a layup. He was picked from behind on the perimeter. He blew past the defenders, but couldn’t finish a layup and was asking for the foul. He missed a wing three. He got a switch and hit the deep wing three. He attacked right, got caught in the air but hit Brewer off a great cut for the dunk.

Kuzma -- -- The three shot was falling tonight as he knocked down 3-6 from behind the arc. Relatively quiet game otherwise. In fact, his only other make was a layup when he faked the handoff and attacked (second or third time we’ve seen him run that little sequence effectively). We need those threes, though. That’s a precious commodity for the team this season, and it will also open up the rest of his game more consistently as he can drive and get to the rim with more ease. I’m hoping he’ll put it all together in the next one (the threes, drives, fastbreak scores) and have another huge game again. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-12 shooting to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He was blocked on a step-through in the post. He faked the handoff, attacked and scored the layup. Nice challenge on a defensive switch against a guard. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He airballed a sideline three. Bad box out and he gave up a putback score. Quick attack but he missed the easy one at the rim. He couldn’t finish on a break, but KCP cleaned it up. He swished a wing three on a kickout. Way short on a pull-up wing jumper. Second Half: He threw a pass away getting caught in air on the baseline. He missed a tough reverse layup on an interior feed. He swished the wing three on the kickout. He drained a huge three with 5 minutes left to answer a Suns three.

Lopez -- -- Another double-double from Brook. I like it. He had some sloppy plays in the first half causing turnovers, but cleaned that up and was efficient offensively the rest of the night. We went to mostly traditional bigmen tonight at the C spot minutes. Probably the most we’ve done that all season. I’d like to see us go big on occasion. Defensively, he had his moments anchoring the paint with a block and some verticality to prevent hoops. On the perimeter, he also got in on a couple good challenges as we were aggressive on some shooters. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-9 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +0. The Action: He missed an awkward rushed step-back wing three. Sloppy, unforced turnover in early offense. He knocked down a 12-foot jumphook out of a timeout. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he made both. He blocked a shot. He missed a three straight away. Sloppy screen, sticking his hands out to get contact, foul. Second Half: He sank a corner three of the kickout from Lonzo. He sank a jumphook in early offense. He attacked off the three line and scored the layup over Chandler. He grabbed an offensive board and hit with his left. He hit the top of the board on a sideline three. Good challenge on a drive to help prevent it. Good job tapping out a missed Ingram FT, it led to Brewer FTs.

Ingram -- -- He said the coaches asked him if he could snap out of the funk he was in and go out there and make impact late in the game. Really wasn’t his night early on as he couldn’t get anything to drop and was not making good basketball plays on either end of the court. The Lakers let him run the point quite a bit in this game, even down the stretch. They tried running the two-man game with him on the right side but he couldn’t combat the Suns icing D. Good experience for him, but I’d like to see some improvement on those reads in those situations. The offense stalled out quite a bit. He got his only two hoops tonight at the rim, one on the break, another on a nice drive when the defense left a huge lane for him to explode into and jam. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-9 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He hit KCP for the corner three. He attacked the rim and was blocked. He filled the lane and scored the layup on the break. He missed a pull-up jumper at the FT line. He iso’d and missed a tough fading baseline jumper on drive, not a good look. He stepped around a defender on a drive but missed the layup, looked like he tipped it in but they gave it to Lopez. Second Half: Wide open and he bricked the 15-footer. Awful shot challenge, giving up an And-1 FT jumper. He missed a wing jumper on an inbounds, up against the shotclock. First step that caught the D by surprise and he dunked with both hands. He worked the two-man game, drew defenders and kicked to Kuzma for the three. He attacked to his right and drew FTs (running the PG right now), he made both. He missed a pull-up elbow jumper. He was called for a hook trying to drive past Chandler. He was intentionally fouled with 48 seconds left up 7, he missed both FTs.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- A lot of notes on KCP in this one. Very up and down game from him. The good often followed by the bad. He’d make a good play on the defensive end, then throw it away on the other end. He’d hit a tough three, then miss an easier, open midrange jumper. He sank four threes tonight, which was the bulk of his scoring. He was gunning shots with those threes dropping. He was one board away from the double-double. He had one of the plays of the game, knocking a ball loose on the perimeter, chasing after it and diving to keep it alive for Brewer to dunk. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-15 shooting (4-9 form three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He threw a pass into Lonzo’s feet when he wanted the lob, turnover. He missed a wing three. He found Ball cutting for a layup. He drained a corner three when Ingram found him in early offense. He gave up a pass after a steal on a break, got it back and was rejected. Another challenge on the break and he couldn’t finish, dunk the other way. Wild perimeter pass instead of resetting the offense, turnover. He swished a three in early offense, getting knocked down with no call in the process. He missed a bad pull-up wing jumper in transition. He drew a clear-out foul on Booker on pressure D. He missed an open wing three on a kickout. Nice job following Kuzma on the break to clean up his miss. He drew a moving screen call on D to get a stop. He kicked to Kuzma for the three. Nice defensive board, but he then gave it away on the other end with a poor decision on a pass into a crowd. He swished a deep three on a kickout. Second Half: He sank a tough wing three to start the half. He got his man in the air and took contact at the elbow to get FTs, he missed both. He missed a wing three in early offense. Horrible outlet and it was picked off, dunk the other way in transition (you are not Lonzo). He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He made a tech FT. He missed a three coming go his right. Great play knocking a ball from Jackson on the perimeter, then diving for it at midcourt and it popped free for Brewer to take it for a dunk. Another missed three from the top of the arc.

Randle -- -- Randle in at PF (finally), but with Bogut in this game. I wanted to see him out there with Lopez spacing the floor, not the Brewer/Bogut combo that allows the D to pack the paint, but they worked it out well. The defense locked down behind that bench lineup. Randle may even have been forced to take a three (which he sank). We also saw some of those kickback plays from him, which is the other tactic he uses when the D is giving him space on the perimeter. So some of those PF-like skills showed up. He also imposed himself a little more on the offensive glass. Not a lot of action, but good minutes by him and that second unit. “We can take a lot from what we did in the second half as far as moving the ball on offense,” Julius said. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-9 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: Hard attack off the dive cut to earn FTs, he made one. He couldn’t finish a lefty layup. He scored a baseline jumphook off the two-man game. He couldn’t finish at the rim. He was called for a travel on a rebound pushout. He threw an interior feed away trying to create against the shotclock (probably should have taken the jumper when he got the ball a second earlier). He attacked right but tried to finish left and couldn’t. He missed a fade in the lane. Second Half: He couldn’t power up in the post and was upset there was no foul call. He grabbed an offensive board and muscled in the putback. He blocked a jumper at the third quarter buzzer. He swished a three straight away, no hesitation. Wild attack to his right and he missed in transition. He was called for a traveling the post, looked shoved off his pivot.

Clarkson -- -- “Brewer and Clarkson were both incredible tonight,” Luke said. Good first half with 14 points to give the Lakers some consistent scoring. Really, he was the only thing that worked consistently for the Lakers early on. I didn’t envy the difficulty he had to deal with in some of those perimeter challenged combinations on the floor (Brewer, Bogut, Randle), but he made it work. He got into spaces for jumpers, got to the rim and finished around help defenders and knocked down three shots from three tonight. Give him the game ball in this one on offense. I also liked seeing him as a floor spacer for Lonzo. JC is shooting the three ball well this year. We need that around Zo. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 11-19 shooting (3-7 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He missed a wing jumper, going to his left off a screen. He attacked off a hesitation, got into the chest of the defender and scored the layup. He bricked a wing three (trying to take a two-for-one that wasn’t there). He swished a wing pull-up jumper off the Randle kickback. He sank a corner three in early offense and went down with no call. He sank a wing three off the Lonzo feed (I’d like to see more of that). Quick attack off the Lonzo handoff and he scored the layup. He missed a three in transition. He up-faked, moved in from the three line and swished the pull-up jumper. Second Half: He drained a wing three off a scramble. He missed a pull-up at the elbow. He attacked off the high screen, decided to get to the rim instead of pulling up and flipped in a tough lefty reverse at the end of the third quarter. He worked off the Lopez screen and swished the pull-up wing jumper. He hit Julius for the three. He missed the wing three off the kickback. He slithered his way around a big and scooped in a layup. He iso’d on Jackson, attacked and scored a layup after shedding him. He missed a tough fading baseline jumper trying to create against the shotclock. He missed a corner three.

Brewer -- -- Suns are probably sick of seeing Brewer already. He’s been a game changer for us against them. He was all over the court tonight. He had an insane defensive possession in the fourth quarter where he must have had has hands on the ball several times and ended up forcing a jumpball with the shotclock low, preventing a hoop with Chandler under the hoop. He switched on five guys on that possession and was everywhere. Pretty crazy, intense sequence with loose balls, players on the floor and Corey defending every part of the court. Most of his action tonight was in the second half. He was able to get the rim for scores and also knocked down a rare three ball. Corey’s play (along with JC) kept Lonzo on the bench in the fourth. “Corey must like playing in Phoenix, man,” Lonzo said afterward. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Great baseline cut to bail out Lonzo who got caught in the air, he took the pass and dunked. He dunked off the loose ball hustle by KCP that knocked a ball free at midcourt. He hustled back on D to deflect a transition pass and save it inbounds. He attacked off the three line with speed and scored the lefty layup. Wild spinning pull-up midrange missed jumper in transition, why take that? He turned the corner going to his right and scored the layup at high speed. He drained a sideline three on the kickout from Kuzma. He was fouled with 43 seconds left, he made both. He missed a corner three.

Bogut -- -- Easily his best game of the season. Really strong on the defensive end tonight, challenging shots well and securing the defensive glass. He was not giving up anything easy. He had a couple blocks and a few shot alterations. No scoring, but the +15 shows how well they were playing on the defensive end. I’m guessing Luke will now experiment with this a little more since it went well tonight. It’s going to be tough, however, with the floor spacing issues in some of those lineups, but they got stops. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 7 boards, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He blocked a drive. Really good job on the defensive glass, keeping the Suns to one-and-out possessions. Second Half: Lazy screen, not turning around, but trying to use his butt and arms, foul. Not close on a jumphook. He spiked a drive out of bounds. Good challenge on d a drive.

Blue -- -- Not much action for him in this one. He’s trying to fit in and hasn’t really found his spots on the floor yet. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 assist and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: Not close on a drive in transition. He kicked to Clarkson in transition for a three. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Walton -- -- The Lakers quickly trailed 9-0 after a couple minutes and Luke called a timeout… Lakers cut it to 11-9, forcing a timeout… Down 17-11, he sat Ball for JC with 5 minutes to go… He went to Bogut/Randle for Kuzma/Lopez, same score… Tied 19-19, he brought in Blue for KCP… Brewer in for Ingram with 1:26 left. So Bogut, Randle, Brewer, Blue, JC… The Lakers led 21-20 after the first quarter… With Ball going out early in the rotation in the first quarter, Luke brought him back to start the second quarter in the Bogut, Randle, Blue, JC, Ball lineup. JC bringing the ball up… Up 6 when Bogut sat for Kuzma… Lopez back in for Randle… The Lakers trailed by 6 with 4:14 left, forcing a timeout… The Lakers trailed 44-43 at the half. The Lakers shot 34%, the Suns 37%. Both teams with 10 turnovers. Ugly… Down 4 with 4 to go in the third, Brewer in for Ingram who was struggling badly… Randle and Bogut in for Lopez and Kuzma. Not a good floor spacing lineup… Down 4 when JC came in for Ball… The Lakers led 74-73 heading into the fourth… Bogut, Randle, Brewer, KCP, JC lineup… Ingram in for KCP, so even worse spacing. Lakers up 2… Kuzma in to help that… He called timeout with 3.4 on the shotclock to setup a play. Ingram missed a wing jumper… Tied 81-81 when Lopez returned with 6:45 left… Lopez, Kuzma, Ingram, Brewer, JC lineup. With Ingram running point. Lakers stretched out to an 8-point lead with 3:29 left… The Lakers held on to that lead down the stretch…

Really strange game. Its not often that I can say I felt like both teams lost, but I feel like both teams lost. If you take Clarkson and Booker out of the game, how bad does that game look? Our D stepped up as it has (so I'll give credit for that), but it almost felt like the Suns just "out badded us" and we won by attrition._________________LakersGround's Terms of Service

Really strange game. Its not often that I can say I felt like both teams lost, but I feel like both teams lost. If you take Clarkson and Booker out of the game, how bad does that game look? Our D stepped up as it has (so I'll give credit for that), but it almost felt like the Suns just "out badded us" and we won by attrition.

It seems like a cop out, but I do think our defense had something to do with how bad they looked on offense (they were actually scoring pretty well their previous few games), while we already know that we're bad on offense to begin with and mostly shoot ourselves in the foot. Also, there were so many possessions where we defended them well for 20 seconds or forced a loose ball situation, and then chaos ensued and somehow they ended up with a fluke buzzer beater or the refs bailed them out with FTs. So we may have looked bad for the on offense for three quarters, but we did play the game at our preferred pace and generally controlled the game on the defensive end, pushing them to take the shots we wanted.

Didn't get to see game until I watched some replay after work. Liked the fact Walton finally stopped the blind auto sub and stuck with the hot hand. I understand letting Ball play as much as he can but not to the extent of benching hot players...glad we kept the hot hand out there or who knows what the outcome would be.

Am concerned about the sixers. Simmons is a giant pg and creates mismatch issues and I just don't see Lonzo - who is usually the biggest pg on the court - being as effective. I hope I'm wrong.

Really strange game. Its not often that I can say I felt like both teams lost, but I feel like both teams lost. If you take Clarkson and Booker out of the game, how bad does that game look? Our D stepped up as it has (so I'll give credit for that), but it almost felt like the Suns just "out badded us" and we won by attrition.

Agree with you. The win sparked more relief rather than joy. Game had no rhythm and basically went to the team that did less to lose rather than more to win.

Really strange game. Its not often that I can say I felt like both teams lost, but I feel like both teams lost. If you take Clarkson and Booker out of the game, how bad does that game look? Our D stepped up as it has (so I'll give credit for that), but it almost felt like the Suns just "out badded us" and we won by attrition.

Agree with you. The win sparked more relief rather than joy. Game had no rhythm and basically went to the team that did less to lose rather than more to win.

Win is a win - imagine the posts if they lost - lmao. They are beating teams they are suppose to beat

Defensive Rating 99.7, fourth best. PACE 105.43, third best. Unfortunately, our offensive rating is on the other side of the pile._________________"Are you kidding? Basketball is like ball. It's all a circle."

Defensive Rating 99.7, fourth best. PACE 105.43, third best. Unfortunately, our offensive rating is on the other side of the pile.

It'll get better with time because of all the turnover we've had and Luke/team trying to build from the ground up again, but there are some flaws with the roster/young talent right now, too. So that's where we have to be patient.

Joined: 17 Sep 2008Posts: 18215Location: In a white room, with black curtains near the station

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 11:02 am Post subject:

Thanks DB. Had a delayed flight and got home in time to see the last 8 minutes or so. I'm just glad we held Phoenix to 93 points. I can't speak to this game because I only saw the end of it, but I do agree with the idea another poster stated in this thread that a good defense can have a lot to do with how bad an opposing offense looks.

Where does one draw the line between two teams trying to lose with bad offense, and a team sticking with solid defense while it figures out the offense? I do have the feeling this season that defense consistently puts the Lakers in a position where they actually have a chance at winning most games, no matter how bad the offense performed for the first 40 minutes. Many of the Laker losses have been very close games. Perhaps this was ugly, but from a defensive standpoint allowing just under 39% shooting overall and 27% from three is actually kinda pretty.

Thank goodness Corey Brewer (of all players) and JC stepped up to give us some late game scoring punch, and Luke saw fit to keep the hot hands in at winning time.